Book Two: The Sickness/Chapter One
This is the first chapter of Flashfire212's Book Two: The Sickness, the second book in the Will the Echidna storyline. Chapter One: A Long Way To Go “So, just how far are we talking here? We’ve been walking for two days, and haven’t even reached the Forest of Light!” Will groaned. He wasn’t used to walking massive distances, but more Chaos Controlling straight there. “Um, I think it’s another week or two after the Forest, and the Forest is another week away,” Crystal answered. Will frowned, then looked up into the dark and cloudy sky. “I don’t like the looks of those clouds. It’s going to rain, and it’s getting dark. We better set up camp here,” he said, pulling his pack off and producing two tents. He quickly set up his, while Crystal started putting hers together. Quick as a flash, Will pulled out some of the packets of food they had out of his freezer pack and held them out towards Crystal. “We have soup, sandwiches and some roast-type things,” he said, focusing and creating fire around his hand, using it to warm up some meat for his dinner. Crystal quietly took a packet of soup, added water and got Will to heat it. “So, we’re a week off from the forest, and you STILL won’t let me Chaos Control to speed us up. Why?” “When Clawz attacked, the guy used some kind of Chaos sense to block and counter the attack. If we Chaos Control, we might as well be inviting him to attack us,” Crystal said, a tear in her eye. “You are close to this Clawz boy, aren’t you?” Will asked. “Yeah, he saved my life. A couple of times. I was crushed to have to leave him there on in the forest, but still…” “I understand,” Will nodded, then motioned to her tent as it started raining. “May as well have a snooze, the rain won’t stop for a while. I’ll keep watch like normal,” “Sure, Will,” Crystal got up, and walked over to her tent, “Night,” “Goodnight, Crystal,” Will replied softly, watching the area around them. He flinched, seeing a flicker, near a tree, then discounted it. He saw the same area move again and then realized what kind of trouble they were in. “Crystal, wake up,” he said with a decent volume. Crystal stuck her head out of her tent. “What is it, Will?” she asked. “We have trouble. Look over there,” Will continued, pointing to where he saw the thing move. “My eyes aren’t the best at night, but yours might be able to tell what that thing is.” Crystal squinted for a bit, then grabbed Will and threw him to the ground. “What? What is it?” he asked, shocked. ‘It’s an Egg Pawn, armed with a gun. It appears to be looking for us, but the rain must be blocking its sensors,” “Right. Time for me to get to work, I guess,’ Will said flatly, getting up. Crystal reached over and pushed him back down. “Allow me, I know how to deal with it,” she said, getting up and standing in full view of the Eggman unit. “HALT! CATS MUST BE COLLECTED FOR VILLAGE WORK!” “Not in your lifetime, buddy. CRYSTAL RESONANCE!” Crystal yelled, pointing her hand at the drone. It seemed to shake for a second or so, then started collapsing on itself. “Woah!” Will exclaimed, watching the robot fall to pieces in front of him. “What did you do?” “I can create resonance within crystals, or at least, I think that’s how it works. Anyway, it makes them either grow or fall to bits. I used it on the crystal powering this bot, and blew it. The robot fell to bits without electricity. I thought it was smart,” “It was, but why do you need my help if you can do that?” “I can’t hurt organics with it so far, and it only effects metals and pre-created crystals. I never finished my training, so that’s probably why,” “Here they come, so let’s deal with them together,” Will said, getting up and dropping into a combat position with his back to Crystal’s. “Only one squad, so that’s around ten bots. Ready?” “Defiantly,” came Crystal’s reply, as the first of the bots popped up in front of Will. “HALT! ECHIDNA WILL BE EXTIRMINATED!” “Don’t kid yourself. FLAMETHROWER!” Will yelled, launching a long beam of fire concentrated in the direction of the bot, with it starting to melt under the strain. “CAT WILL BE CAPTURED!” droned another. “If only that was going to happen,” Crystal laughed, dropping a plain crystal onto the ground in front of herself then enlarging it, with an opaque side facing her. The robot shot into the crystal, with its beam being reflected back into itself, destroying it. “More coming. I got them,” Will pointed out, running in that direction and drawing his saber and guy’viroth broadsword, spinning as he hit the first two bots, blocking their shots with the flat of his broadsword while cutting them in half with his saber. Five down, five to go, thought Crystal as Will fought another bot. Another pair of bots fired on her, but she had made her crystal surround her, protecting her from the lasers, as she manipulated it skillfully to make a crystal cannon, which she used to destroy one of the bots while Will dashed in and destroyed the other with a single slash of his broadsword. She lowered her shield and spun at the same time as Will, so they were both staring at the last bot. They both grinned at each other and raised their hands simultaneously. Will created a fireball in the palm of his hand while Crystal held an empty crystal. They looked each other in the eyes and shared an idea. “FIRE CRYSTAL COMBO!” they cried as one, with the fireball and crystal merging into a Fire Crystal, a weaker form of a Flare Crystal. The small crystal resonated with the combined power, then rocketed off straight into the robot’s head, which collapsed. “Nice moves,” Will complimented. “You two, Will,” Crystal smiled, her rain-soaked shirt and miniskirt grabbing Will’s attention. “Um, er, we should keep moving. If we hurry, we could reach the forest sooner, and I can beat Jacob’s head in for you,” “Why?” Crystal said, pulling herself closer to Will, “What are you afraid of?” “Sorry Crystal, I’ve got a girlfriend, and I’m NOT going to cheat on her. Understood?” “Of course, Will,” Crystal said, but she had a look in her eyes that made Will edgy. He turned around and packed up the tents, hanging them off their packs, and the two set off again. “So, what’s your village like?” Will asked Crystal. “It’s great! It’s on a mountain, with a river and cliffs around it. There are three ways in, from up and down the mountain, and from the cliff’s caves. All three give us access, but the choice is which one we use. Both mountain paths will be guarded, but the cave path is hard to access,” “Alright, we’ll decide later. Come on, lets’ keep moving,” Will said smartly. The two walked off in silence, before Will pointed at something. “Is that a Flare Crystal?” He pointed at a fiery gem halfway up a tree. Crystal frowned, then walked over, elongating the crystal so she could examine it. “Yeah, it is. I think we’ll take it,” she replied, reaching over and pulling the crystal off the tree, shrinking it and sticking it into Will’s pack. “Better get moving, if we want to reach the forest,” she muttered, and they set off again. Characters Will the Echidna Crystal the Cat Chance "Clawz" Cat (Mentioned only) Egg Pawns Category:Fanfic Chapters